blackberry bread Harold

Yesterday I busied myself using some berries picked by Mona's lovely mom. There was an enormous bowl of them, enough to make a batch of seedless blackberry jam from my favorite french jam book. Delicious!

And what would jam be without fresh bread to eat it on? Usually my loaves are hearty and dense, and I've been looking for a more casual loaf. You know, the sort that you could use for a sandwich without feeling like you're eating a bread bomb. Usually I end up with open-faced sandwiches because two slices at a time are too heavy. There is a great shared blog written by several excellent bread bakers called A Year in Bread, and I tried out their farmhouse white loaf.

the autolyse period, where I discovered that my biggest bowl was way too small

It's a big recipe and makes three loaves. Big enough that I couldn't use my kitchenaid to knead for me. Luckily I was having a good-hands-day and was able to enjoy getting sticky and kneading the huge lump of dough until it was smooth. Though I typically prefer multi grained bread, a straight-up white recipe seemed like just the thing to make a tender fluffy loaf. The milk in the recipe ensured tenderness. The verdict from Charlie: tastes very much like an english muffin and is good. I had a piece of toast last night and it toasted up very crispy and was lovely with a little butter and cinnamon. A success!

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I missed today's Summer Fun Time excursion because I went to Bellevue to see if I could solve my thorny smocking problem. After consulting with a woman at the sewing & vacuum store, the answer seems to be using a new bobbin casing and adjusting it. The experiment will happen tonight.


At least Mona went to the farm and was kind enough to take a picture of Harold for me. He seems to be quite happy there, still hanging out with Buzz the duck and Tom the other (much more impressive looking) turkey. I really have to go out there and visit him...

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Eggs laid in the coop today: 4
Eggs laid this year: 50